I'm a pretty skinny guy who can hit a solid ball and is very fast. However, I feel that I only win matches because I'm fast. I'm not a pusher as you guys have seen my videos but do noticeably have a lack of power/significant pace in my shots. If I did isometric band workouts, would it benefit me and allow me to hit heavy balls in order to dictate rallies?

I'm a pretty skinny guy who can hit a solid ball and is very fast. However, I feel that I only win matches because I'm fast. I'm not a pusher as you guys have seen my videos but do noticeably have a lack of power/significant pace in my shots. If I did isometric band workouts, would it benefit me and allow me to hit heavy balls in order to dictate rallies?

Click to expand...

depends on your Level. I would say till 4.0 there is so much room for technique improvement that a couple of pushups in the morning is all strength Training you Need.

later you can still gain a lot by improving technique but you start to get into the range where you are technically good enough to use your strength.

However the Girls will like it so start hitting the gym. but for your Tennis learning to rotate the lower Body ahead of the arm will do more for you.

I'm a pretty skinny guy who can hit a solid ball and is very fast. However, I feel that I only win matches because I'm fast. I'm not a pusher as you guys have seen my videos but do noticeably have a lack of power/significant pace in my shots. If I did isometric band workouts, would it benefit me and allow me to hit heavy balls in order to dictate rallies?

Click to expand...

absolutely, you answered your own question.
Any isometric work is great for tennis & will increase strength, muscular endurance & speed/weight of shot.

yes definitely will make a difference but not always in a good way. The best workout for rec would be a thorough and regular stretches of the whole body, esp regions that are not as flexible as other parts.

striving for perfect form while working out will improve coordination. unless they are really into weight training and pushing the limits, regular people rarely are focused about the perfect form so there's the danger. and bulky muscles can reduce overall coordination. That's why I have to be very careful about suboptimal weight training for developing juniors.

You want flexibility for power on your strokes. You want speed to cover the court (speed takes strong legs and core). The more you work out with these in mind, the better.
The pros have learned that the most strength with least body weight is best - a tough balance.

You want flexibility for power on your strokes. You want speed to cover the court (speed takes strong legs and core). The more you work out with these in mind, the better.
The pros have learned that the most strength with least body weight is best - a tough balance.

Click to expand...

Yeah , Look at Djokovic when he tears off his shirt after a match. The guy looks almost emaciated but the muscles he has are seriously ripped.

Like you said ... the most strength with the least body weight is the winning combination.

Working out can seriously improve your game, especially if you are smart in what you are doing. Chances are, your arms are not getting tired in matches. In fact, if you are swinging right, you are not really using your arms that much. Instead, you likely get tired in your legs (especially your calves and hamstrings) and your core. You can tell when you are getting tired in the legs because you start taking big steps around the court and mis-positioning yourself. You can tell you get tire in the core because you start leaning over to hit to reach balls and arming shots.

I'm a pretty skinny guy who can hit a solid ball and is very fast. However, I feel that I only win matches because I'm fast. I'm not a pusher as you guys have seen my videos but do noticeably have a lack of power/significant pace in my shots. If I did isometric band workouts, would it benefit me and allow me to hit heavy balls in order to dictate rallies?

Click to expand...

Depends on what your goals are. If they are to improve, you can't get better unless you are in great shape, mentally and physically you can't be breathing hard and expect great shots and mental formulations.

I recommend generally to be able to jog 5 miles with no problem, this gives good overall cardiovascular stamina. Then of course wind sprints.

Strength doesn't always equal power, leverage does, technique, but it's good to do everything. Only use weights if you are weak, oversize muscles need more oxygen and get tired fast.

Some of the best training is simply practicing catching tennis balls with your hand, teaches you to always watch the ball, anyways.

Depends on what your goals are. If they are to improve, you can't get better unless you are in great shape, mentally and physically you can't be breathing hard and expect great shots and mental formulations.

I recommend generally to be able to jog 5 miles with no problem, this gives good overall cardiovascular stamina. Then of course wind sprints.

Strength doesn't always equal power, leverage does, technique, but it's good to do everything. Only use weights if you are weak, oversize muscles need more oxygen and get tired fast.

Some of the best training is simply practicing catching tennis balls with your hand, teaches you to always watch the ball, anyways.

Click to expand...

I can run 5 miles no problem haha but im a 4.5-5.0 player who wants to move to the next level. When i play 5.5 i basicaly try to run down every ball bc ppl hit super hard

You want flexibility for power on your strokes. You want speed to cover the court (speed takes strong legs and core). The more you work out with these in mind, the better.
The pros have learned that the most strength with least body weight is best - a tough balance.

I don't think you have to hit harder OR more spin.
What you gotta do is place the ball better into the sideline corners, deep.
Most 4.0's can hit hard enough when they have time to set.
All 4.0's cannot set early enough on every ball, and often miss the shots by going wide a foot or two, instead of getting it IN by a foot or two.
Work on placement.
McEnroe and Connors never hit hard, they just placed it really well near the sidelines, over and over again.
Lacking good placement, then you need to hit harder.

To compete with the best at your level and keep moving up you have to workout to play tennis, not play tennis as a workout. Ofc not saying that you are playing as a workout but just a little saying . Working out helps a lot and gives you more confidence on the court, but don't gain too much muscle or you'll lose touch,feel, form.

status update: Well I've been working out the past 5 days and I have gotten a lot stronger. However, I played a match today (didnt play tennis the past 8 days) I felt very out of sync and couldn't hit a shot past 2 strokes as my arms felt very very weird. Anyways I lost the match but after more times practicing I started to feel my strokes and I was beating everyone on the team including the guy I lost to earlier. btw im playing comm college tennis

I find it hard to believe that you could make much noticeable difference working out for only 5 days.

Click to expand...

i believe it. Hes using isometric bands. I've coached soccer and I have my players train with them and there is noticable improvement in their mile times within a few days (3 days) and they improve more and more as more days pass. Have you ever tried to bounce a volleyball with a tennis racket? Just bounce it against the ground. Then play tennis, huge huge difference as now you can slam the heck out of the tennis ball.

@marina: do not work out before playing tennis MATCHES. I wouldn't even recomend the volleyball bouncing technique because you will be messing up your muscle memory slightly. However, practice is fine

"WORKING OUT" pays it's dividends 6 months down the line, not now, or until then.
You mind has to adjust to your new body, and if you're body is changing, the mind lags behind a few months.
Workout now, reap the benefits by the middle of summer.

status update: Well I've been working out the past 5 days and I have gotten a lot stronger. However, I played a match today (didnt play tennis the past 8 days) I felt very out of sync and couldn't hit a shot past 2 strokes as my arms felt very very weird. Anyways I lost the match but after more times practicing I started to feel my strokes and I was beating everyone on the team including the guy I lost to earlier. btw im playing comm college tennis

"WORKING OUT" pays it's dividends 6 months down the line, not now, or until then.
You mind has to adjust to your new body, and if you're body is changing, the mind lags behind a few months.
Workout now, reap the benefits by the middle of summer.

Click to expand...

sorry, like some of the others have already said, 5 days isn't enough to build enough muscle to see a noticeable increase in strength. increasing strength like endurance happens over time. to build muscle and strength, the existing muscle has to be overworked to the point of fatigue to trigger the body to rebuild the muscle stronger to deal with the increased workload. only after you have a solid base will you see big gains in strength and muscle mass before you plateau. once you reach that plateau, you have to change up your routine to shock your muscles/body into dealing with a new increased workload.

and like LeeD mentions, it takes time to adjust to the additional muscle mass and strength. once you have greater strength, your racquet will feel like a feather which will alter your timing so you'll need time to adjust to that.

I found that being able to swing a heavier racket results in a more consistent game and you hit a better ball in general. However, you lose power and spin since your racket speed drops and this really hurts your serve and attacking game. I think ideally, you want to be able to play with the heaviest racket you can manage which means a little extra power can only help.

It's true the pros workout. But the problem is the pros have spent significant on court time honing their strokes - lots more then average players are before they are even 15.

Once you have achieved excellent strokes and have great footwork there are gains to be made with fitness and athleticism. That's because the pros are evenly matched skill wise and fitness can seperate them.

I think young amateur players should concentrate on injury prevention with their workouts and just play alot of tennis.

Older players are going to have different priorities - with many athletes working out to maintain strength levels (and vanity) - and hoping to help their tennis some..

But the fastest way to get great at tennis is play alot of tennis under the watchful eye of other pros, IMHO. In short the higher your NTRP the more fitness is going to be a factor - unless you are grossly out of shape.

I think I mentioned this in a previous thread somewhere, but you need to strengthen your legs. I think it was in a thread where you had your vids and a vid from a girl who looked like a pro prospect, and I pointed out how much bigger her legs were and how she used them to generate power.

Power in groundstrokes comes from the legs and the core, not the arms. If you're generating power mainly from the arms, then you're doing it wrong.

Do some squats and run sprints in the lines on the courts (start at the doubles line, touch the singles line and back, then the middle T and back, then the other singles line and back, and finally the other doubles line and back). The sprints aren't about making you a faster runner; they're about making your legs stronger.